Chapter 11
Ye Xuan looked around again, examining the place from top to bottom, and finally confirmed that this base had been converted from a prison.
They were using high-end communication wristbands, yet the overall base was this shabby. It was completely different from the cyber-tech bases he had imagined when reading novels before.
Ye Xuan tapped open the wristband, opened the map, and entered “dormitory building.” Three target locations appeared.
Wow. That Xie Yan was really something. He had not even told him which dormitory building to report to.
The three dormitory buildings were distributed in different places and were not close to each other. Ye Xuan guessed it was because the training fields were also located in different places, so he searched for the different training fields, opened the site models of each one, and finally identified the most run-down training field among the three. Then he found the dormitory building closest to that training field.
After setting the destination, Ye Xuan followed the navigation toward the dormitory building.
There was a small red dot moving toward a small green dot on the wristband. From the look of it, the red dot was him, and the green dot was the dormitory building.
He saw another personnel search function beside it. After pressing it, a prompt popped up saying he had no authorization.
It seemed that after wearing the wristband, the people above could see their location at any time.
Ye Xuan planned to study the wristband’s functions after settling down. The most urgent thing right now was to report to the dormitory building first, then enjoy a proper meal.
His stomach was already growling nonstop from hunger.
On the way to the dormitory building, Ye Xuan ran into quite a few people. Some were dressed in black combat uniforms, just like the group he had seen at the convenience store before. Others were dressed in protective suits. A very small number wore masks and different kinds of formal attire.
His sixth sense told him that those people in formal attire were the ones in power at this base.
Very few people looked at Ye Xuan. Everyone came and went in a hurry.
Ye Xuan arrived at the dormitory building. From the model on the map, it already looked very old, but seeing it in person made it seem even more dilapidated. It was basically a barely livable house hastily slapped together with cement, not even as good as a shipping container.
Waves of noise came from inside, and if he listened carefully, quite a few uncivilized words were mixed in.
The registrar sitting at the front desk was a very young guy, about the same age as Ye Xuan. He was very calm and looked as if he had long since gotten used to this kind of thing.
“I’m here to report in,” Ye Xuan said to the registrar.
The registrar pulled out a wrinkled registration form and handed it to Ye Xuan. “Fill this out.”
Ye Xuan took it and scanned the form from top to bottom. It required personal information and former address. There was nothing especially private involved.
Former address—well, it had already fallen anyway, so filling it in did not matter.
After Ye Xuan finished filling out the form, he handed it back to the registrar.
The registrar checked something on the computer, then gave Ye Xuan an unfortunate piece of news. “You’re Ye Xuan, right? Our reserve dormitory is already seriously over capacity. There’s no room left.”
“Now you have two choices. One, apply to co-rent with an official team member you know. Two, I give you a tent, and you temporarily set up camp in an open area of the base. Once there’s a vacancy, we’ll arrange for you to move in. There are twenty-three people waiting in line ahead of you.”
“…” Who knew how long it would take before he could be arranged in?
“Is there a third choice? Can I live with my family in the family quarters?”
The registrar’s expression became more serious. Someone who was not a family member of an official team member but could live in the family quarters—looked like he had someone backing him from above.
“Mm, theoretically, yes. But the family quarters are very far from the training field. Right now, the base only has military transport routes and hasn’t opened daily commute routes. In other words, it would take you an hour to ride to the training field every day. Reserve combat team members train earlier than official team members. You have to arrive at the training field before seven o’clock. That means you’d need to wake up before five thirty, or even earlier. Can you do that?”
Hearing that he would have to wake up at five thirty, Ye Xuan laughed from anger. Even workhorses did not have to get up that early, right?
“So I think your best choice is to find someone you know and co-rent with them. I just looked at your registration form. You and one official team member came from the same university. Try sending him a message through your wristband. As long as you two don’t have a grudge, he should agree, right?”
The person the registrar was talking about had to be Xia Chenxi. Ye Xuan hesitated. Back at the convenience store, he had even slapped Xia Chenxi. What if Xia Chenxi held a grudge and rejected him?
Seeing that Ye Xuan was slow to respond, the registrar also became a little impatient. “If you’re going to hesitate this much, then living in a tent would be better. Unless you run into extreme weather, living in a tent is usually not a problem.”
The registrar made as if to fill in “tent” in Ye Xuan’s accommodation column.
“Wait.” Ye Xuan stopped him. “I’ll try applying.”
The registrar stopped what he was doing.
Ye Xuan gave him an awkward smile. “How do I apply to him?”
The registrar found the add-friend interface on Ye Xuan’s wristband, entered Xia Chenxi’s code, 0019, and sent a friend request.
“After he accepts your friend request, just send him a co-rental application.”
Ye Xuan’s heartbeat quickened. Xia Chenxi would not refuse to even accept his friend request, would he? No matter what, they had gone through a period of fleeing from the dormitory together.
Unexpectedly, Xia Chenxi accepted his friend request very quickly and sent him a message.
Xia Chenxi: How’s your body?
Ye Xuan had not even replied yet.
The registrar pressed the co-rental application for him.
“Hey, you!” Ye Xuan’s face flushed red. He had not said a single word yet, and this guy had already made the decision for him.
The registrar rolled his eyes. “I’ve already been very patient with you. If you keep dragging this out, am I supposed to get off work or not?”
Ye Xuan held back his anger and moved his gaze back to the screen.
On the other side of the screen, Xia Chenxi paused for a moment, then approved Ye Xuan’s co-rental application.
Xia Chenxi: Building 1, Room 511.
“You should’ve sent it to him earlier. Wasted your time and mine.”
The registrar filled in Ye Xuan’s accommodation column: Building 1, Room 511 (co-rental).
“Report to Training Field 3 at seven o’clock sharp tomorrow morning.”
Ye Xuan did not want to waste more words with him and left directly. Behind him, he heard the registrar mock him, “A reserve combat team member still has the nerve to put on airs. Be careful, or you’ll get sent to mine ore later.”
Ye Xuan clenched his fists.
The official team members’ dormitory building was completely different from the reserve combat team members’ dormitory building. The whole dormitory exuded a high-end cyber style. The front door was made of explosion-proof glass, and after entering, the interior was tiled with low-key luxury marble. The one sitting at the front desk was not a real person either, but an intelligent robot.
“Identity recognized: Reserve combat team member Ye Xuan. Dormitory number 511. Please take the elevator on the right upstairs. Swipe your wristband to activate the elevator.”
Ye Xuan walked toward the elevator on the right and scanned the small white screen. The elevator automatically went up and arrived on the fifth floor.
The elevator doors opened. Ye Xuan stepped out and walked to Room 511.
He took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
Very soon, the door opened. Xia Chenxi appeared in front of him, wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
“Come in.”
